Mets score eight in third, crush Rockies again, 14-9

Travis d'Arnaud of the New York Mets celebrates with Juan Lagares after scoring a second-inning run against the Colorado Rockies in a game at Coors Field on Aug. 22, 2015 in Denver. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Dustin Bradford

The Mets surely will miss Lucas Duda, who was put on the disabled list before Saturday night's game because of lower back stiffness. But certainly not until they leave Coors Field, where the Mets have done everything but paint the purple-hued stadium orange-and-blue.

If this had been Williamsport, it would have been cut short due to the Mercy Rule in the fourth inning. By then, every Mets starter had at least one hit -- yes, even pitcher Jon Niese -- in ripping the Rockies' Chris Rusin for 12 hits (eight doubles) and 11 earned runs.

For two games, it's been televised batting practice for the Mets, and Saturday night's 14-9 pounding of the Rockies -- like the 14-9 beating Friday -- had little in common with real baseball, other than players wearing caps and gloves.

The Mets have scored 28 runs in two days, with 37 hits, including 18 for extra bases. Earlier this season, during the offensive troubles, that felt like a good month. As an indication of how volatile games are at Coors, Terry Collins twice called on closer Jeurys Familia for the ninth -- with a five-run lead.

"You got to be careful," Collins said before the series. "Here it could be Home Run Derby under certain conditions."

After clobbering five homers Friday night -- including three from Yoenis Cespedes -- the Mets mostly stayed in the park Saturday night in their 10th straight win over the hapless Rockies. Juan Uribe was the only one to go deep, hitting a two-run shot during an eight-run third inning to put the Mets ahead, 11-3.

Comically, Uribe also was the first Met to make an out that inning -- as the 10th batter -- by hitting into a double play that still managed to drive in a run. Rusin failed to get an out in the third as he became the fifth pitcher in Rockies history to allow 11 or more earned runs -- and the first since 2004. During this one start, Rusin's ERA jumped from 3.99 to 4.97.

The Mets tacked on three more runs in the fifth, thanks in part to RBI singles from Cespedes and Wilmer Flores, to take a 14-3 lead. That gave every Mets starter but Michael Cuddyer at least one RBI -- and five of them had two.

Despite working with a huge lead, Niese had to contend with the Coors effect, too. The Rockies tagged him for 11 hits and seven runs in 5 1/3 innings, but in this war of attrition, Niese survived just long enough. And like Bartolo Colon the previous night, Niese got roughed up in the literal sense, when D.J. LeMahieu's comebacker smacked him hard on the glove hand in the fifth.

When Collins came out to check, Niese appeared to have trouble clenching his first, but stayed in the game to later give up a two-run homer to Charlie Blackmon that ended his night. And as soon as Collins called on Eric O'Flaherty, his lefty specialist, Jose Reyes homered to trim the Mets' lead to 14-8.

The Mets expressed optimism that Duda would need only two weeks on the DL to alleviate his back condition, which popped again Friday after forcing him to miss six starts earlier this month. But there's no guarantee of that, and Duda will visit Monday with Los Angeles-based back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, who treated David Wright for his spinal stenosis.